The Day Before The Day Before Christmas Eve
by Aklee
Summary: Christmas, comfort, confusion and companionship ... The last time Taichi, Yamato and Sora meet before the day of Yamato's concert ...


**Author's Note:** Wow... thank you for wanting to read a fic which has the most excessively boring title in the history of ever :p

* * *

"You look... smart," Yamato said.

Taichi laughed at his choice of words and slid into the seat next to him.

"What happened?"

"I walked to school with Sora this morning. She needed help with bringing art supplies or something. And, well, you know what she's like," Taichi replied, gesturing towards his uniform.

Yamato chuckled as Taichi made quick work of undoing his tie and yanking out his shirt. His gaze eventually returned to a group of first-years playing football not too far off. "I can't believe it's the last day of school."

"Seriously, it's about time though. This semester has dragged on _forever_."

"And now it's almost Christmas."

"Yeah, now it's practically Christmas."

"Is your Mom going to be cooking again?"

Taichi groaned. "Don't remind me. Every single person I know looks forward to Christmas dinner with their family. I'm the only one who spends half the year absolutely dreading it because she still insists on cooking."

Yamato couldn't help but be amused. He'd always suspected that Taichi exaggerated just how bad his mother's cooking was in an attempt to get Yamato to make something for him whenever he 'happened to be in the neighbourhood' around lunch time. "Well, you're welcome to come over afterwards. There are always tons of leftovers."

The brunet snorted. "What's the point of that? I need to find a way to come over _during_."

Yamato laughed. "It's just one day."

"You don't understand. It's really not. _It's every single meal of every single day of every single year of my entire life._"

"What's he throwing a tantrum about this time?" Sora asked, coming to a stop in front of the bleachers where the boys were sitting.

"Food," Yamato returned, forcing himself not to react to her sudden appearance. He had no idea what was going on with himself lately.

"Ah. How could I have not guessed?"

"Not just food," Taichi replied in an annoyed tone. "It's _Christmas dinner_. You guys don't understand how important this is to me."

"You know that you can always come over later to–"

"_What's_ _the point of that? I need to find a way to come over_ **_during_**," Yamato mimicked before Taichi had a chance to respond.

Sora giggled. "C'mon, it's just–"

"It's not _one_ day or just _any_ day! It's freaking _Christmas dinner_!" Taichi protested.

Sora burst out laughing and walked closer to where they were. Even though there was a space next to each of them, she chose to sit beside Taichi.

_As she always did_, Yamato thought as he watched her. She set her bag down on the grass and settled on the bench, absentmindedly smoothing out her skirt. Her gaze went back to the brunet and she frowned.

"Seriously, Taichi. I saw you less than two hours ago. How can your uniform already be in the state it is now?"

"I'm as perplexed as you are," he replied, shaking his head in mock wonder.

Sora sighed and immediately reached for his collar. Her fingers flew over the fabric as if she'd done this a million times before.

Despite his tone, Taichi didn't roll his eyes or tell her to stop pestering him like he usually did. Instead, when she started to fix his tie he sat up a little straighter and took her distraction as an opportunity to regard her somewhat intently.

Yamato had the weirdest feeling that he'd deliberately messed up his uniform to annoy Sora and get her attention.

... but that didn't make any sense because Taichi hated when she nagged him. Yamato had heard him complain about it countless times before and what he had said not five minutes ago seemed to be indicative of the same thing.

Sora didn't notice the way Taichi was watching her. She continued to deal with him with her usual mild exasperation. "You know it's not that hard to _not_ look like a complete slob all the time. I'm surprised none of the teachers say anything anymore."

"They've probably given up on me. Maybe you should too," he teased.

"And admit defeat?" Sora raised an eyebrow. "_Never_."

"This is a battle you cannot win, Takenouchi," he replied, loosening his tie ever so slightly when she was done.

"How's everything going for the concert?"

Yamato blinked when he realised Sora's dark ruby eyes were now focused on him... and that he'd probably been caught staring at her. "Pretty good," he replied, trying to hide his slight embarrassment and ignore the absurd self-consciousness he felt whenever she gave him her full attention.

"But I suppose you're going to be really busy all day tomorrow and before the concert?" she asked vaguely.

"Actually our last practice is tomorrow afternoon. Then we'll probably just meet up before it starts to go through everything one last time."

"Oh." Sora continued to look at him – as if expecting an answer to some unasked question. Lately, Yamato had no idea what to do with himself when she held his gaze like that. It was almost as if she was trying to peer into his thoughts or something – an endeavour that could produce only embarrassing results because of certain unwanted –

"We're getting free tickets, right?" Taichi asked.

Yamato was grateful for the interruption. "Sometimes I think you're only friends with me for the free concert tickets and merchandise."

"Yup. There's nothing quite like the promise of complimentary mugs and t-shirts plastered with your best friend's face to motivate you to continue putting effort into a relationship." Suddenly, Taichi laughed. "Do you remember–"

"No."

"What?" Sora asked curiously.

"Once I was over at his apartment and managed to get my shirt dirty so I needed something to wear."

"He spilt soda on himself," Yamato added.

Sora stifled a giggle but Taichi went on undeterred. "Anyway, Jun decided to stop by – as she sometimes does," he said with a smirk at Yamato who continued to look unamused, "and I answered the door. She took one look at my shirt and started wailing."

"Why?" Sora asked.

"Apparently she thought we were dating or something."

"I still don't understand what you find so funny about the entire thing," Yamato responded.

Taichi ignored him again. "I've never seen anyone wail quite that like, Sora. All his neighbours were staring. It was really–"

"Embarrassing."

"I was going to say spectacular."

Sora tried very hard not to laugh.

"You're such an idiot," Yamato said.

"Yeah, well. You wouldn't have had that problem if you actually did your laundry once in a while and had something for me to wear."

"Or," Yamato objected. "If you'd learnt to drink like a civilised human being way back in kindergarten."

"He was deliberately trying to make me laugh every time I took a sip," Taichi protested, although the way he was attempting to smother a grin as he looked at her proved that he wasn't really bothered by Yamato's ribbing. "Say, Sora. Do you need a lift to the concert? Dad's going to drop me there and we could easily give you a ride too."

"I'm probably going to be at the shop all day."

"You're working on Christmas Eve?" Yamato asked.

"Yeah. It's always one of the busiest days for the shop." She turned back to Taichi. "So Momma's going to drive me afterwards. Thanks though."

He wasn't satisfied. "Well, what time is she going to drop you?"

"I... umm... I'm not really sure, Taichi," Sora replied somewhat evasively.

Oddly, he seemed to deflate a little. "Oh."

It was then that Yamato realised that his friends coming to his concert on Christmas Eve was a pretty big deal. He didn't want them to be forced to attend just because he was performing especially if they were supposed to be at home with their families. "You know, I really appreciate you guys wanting to come," Yamato said after a short silence. "But it's okay if you have other plans and are busy with–"

"_We're not_!" Sora interrupted.

There was a slight pause.

Sora blushed at her unintended outburst and even Yamato found himself surprised at how vehemently she had responded.

Taichi laughed. "Yeah, we certainly seem to be _super_ enthusiastic about attending," he said, eyeing her curiously.

Sora flushed harder which only added to Taichi's amusement.

Yamato couldn't help feel the tiniest bit flattered that she seemed so eager to come – regardless of how kind of weird she was being about it. "Well, thanks."

Taichi was about to add something when the bell rang.

He sighed and got up. "I have gym. Mr. Hashimoto is going to kill me if I'm late again." He paused and glanced over at Sora. "I'll see you after school?"

She nodded.

"Yamato," Taichi said by way of parting.

Yamato raised his hand in a mock farewell and watched his friend jog away across the school ground.

Sora stood and picked up her bag. "Where are you headed?" she asked. "I'm going to the Academic Block. I have–"

"History, right?" As soon as he said the words, Yamato fought not to cringe. She didn't actually have to _know_ that he just happened to have her entire schedule memorised.

Sora blinked. "Umm... yeah."

Yamato got to his feet awkwardly. "I have class there too. So... uhh... we can walk together. If you want." _Lame. Lame, lame, lame._

"Oh, really, Yamato?" she teased. "Is that what friends sometimes decide to do when they're heading in the same direction?"

Yamato smiled at her sheepishly.

They fell into a comfortable silence as they cut across the grass. He liked that it was okay not to always have to come up with something to say with Sora. It was only when he stole a glance at her and saw her staring stubbornly ahead that he realised he hadn't been alone with Sora for quite a while. And the fact that he _was _alone with her right now, albeit just for the brief time it took to walk from the soccer field to the main building, brought up a whole load of _other_ conflicting emotions regarding Sora Takenouchi that he was determinedly not to letting himself dwell on.

They entered the main building and headed down the school's over-decorated – bordering on tacky – hallways. Yamato rolled his eyes as he pushed a stray streamer hanging from the ceiling away from his locker.

Sora regarded him curiously. "You don't like Christmas?"

"No, it's not that," he said.

"Then?"

"It's just that every celebration has become about being really flashy and spending the most amount of money on decorations. Everyone's just trying to outdo one another. It's so... so..."

"Commercial?"

"Yeah. It doesn't to mean anything anymore. Like celebrating Christmas and buying each other presents is either taken as either a sort of competition or regarded as another chore."

Sora tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and she suddenly seemed to find something on the floor really interesting. "Well, what would you give to someone? To make their gift more special?"

Yamato paused. "I don't know. Something that matters? Something that's supposed to be only for them... instead of, you know, from a shop display." It was funny he was telling her this since Yamato realised he didn't actually put in a lot of effort into his own gift giving.

Sora didn't reply as he took out his books and shut his locker.

"I guess I'll see you around?" he prompted when she still didn't say anything. A light brush against his arm stopped him from leaving.

"Yamato…" She hesitated for a moment, still not quite looking at him directly.

His gaze immediately dropped down to her mouth and the way she was biting on her bottom lip.

... and for the hundredth time, Yamato found himself wondering what it would be like to kiss Sora Takenouchi.

He hastily pushed that thought aside and looked back at her.

"I just... umm... wanted to wish you good luck for the concert."

"It's still two days away though."

"I know. But I wanted to wish you now... in person. Just in case I don't get to see you tomorrow. I mean... you don't need the luck or anything since your concerts are always amazing of course. And I'm sure this one will be too. I just... uhh... hope you're not too nervous about it... because you really don't need to be... Like I said you're concerts are always good and I..."

Despite his confusion at why she was stuttering so much, Yamato couldn't help but smile. "Thanks," he said genuinely. And he meant it. Everyone simply assumed that since the band had been holding gigs for so long, he was over being anxious before each performance – which wasn't the case at all. And this concert was definitely much bigger than any of the others in the past. So it was nice to hear Sora actually say that she supported him and enjoyed their performances.

Although he really wished he could come up with something that would put her at ease from whatever seemed to be bothering her. "Uhh... Sora..."

"Yes?"

Yamato's mind went blank when she started doing it again – looking up at him expectantly, her intense dark eyes locked with his. He found himself entirely unable to form any coherent thoughts and a slight blush crept up his neck at the prolonged eye contact. "W-we're going to be late for class," he said finally.

"Oh. Right," Sora said in a tone that hinted that he had managed to disappoint her somehow. Not for the first time, Yamato was sure that he was missing something.

"I'll see you on Christmas Eve?" he added, hoping that he didn't sound too eager.

"Yes, Christmas Eve," Sora replied. She gave him a slightly uncertain smile before heading to her own class room.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

So I wrote a weird love-triangle-fic thingy that I was determined never to write :/

I think I'm more conflicted about this than anything else I've ever posted... basically because _nothing actually happens_. On the one hand, that's a good thing because nothing was _supposed_ to happen. My aim was to highlight their friendship as much as possible.

But on the other hand, _nothing happened. _So the entire thing was perhaps kind of pointless (more so than usual) and really boring?

Feedback would be greatly appreciated :)


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